Logic

A few thoughts: - Just win, baby. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know...it was ugly for long stretches. Yet again, an "off day" for the Bills still meant over 400yards of offense, 27 points, and a 17 point win. - Don't take today lightly. Only the third time EVER the Bills have won back to back division titles. - The Bills held the Jets to 52 TOTAL yards on offense. I don't care if they're the Jets, that's really, really impressive. - Would the Bills dare activate practice squad punter Jamie Gillan for the playoffs? Probably not, but......ya know.... Bottom line: Division champs, three seed, playoff home game with a full house incoming. And... One QB sneak slip away from the one-seed. Game of inches. Oh well. No use crying over spilt milk. Tonight....we drink!

I'm not sure you'll need condicidence anyway.

So, uh.. What happens if the Steelers and Ravens tie?

A slate of crappy games featuring backups in week 18 because teams want to give their guys a rest after a too-long season. Who could have foreseen it? Coming soon: Two straight weeks of crappy games and backups to end the regular season, basically turning it into a pre-season quality collection of crap. Thanks, NFL!

Absolutely. For them to have as many wins as they do, with that roster....speaks pretty damn well to Culley's ability as a head coach. They're gonna fire him because....WHY, exactly?

Man...most of the early window games SUCK. I know they all have implications on the Bills' playoff seeding, but still: Woof. Backup QBs and playoff-eliminated teams galore.

I'm sure this has been said already, but... A plus run defender, able to pressure the passer in spurts (his 2019 total of 6.5 sacks would lead the Bills right now), knows the scheme so he could hit the ground running, and most importantly: Brings a juice, a swagger, a looseness, an element of fun and levity that is a real boost to the Bills locker room. Personally, I'm interested in bringing him back not just for the playoff run, but for the future, as well. Hughes and/or Addison might be gone after this season. If so, he'd be good depth, veteran leadership on the d-line, and as previously mentioned, a great fit in the locker room. Get him.

A tale of two teams: One, playing out the string on their 11th straight non-playoff season. Pinning their hopes on a so-far-not-too-impressive rookie quarterback that they had to settle for after messing up the chance to select Trevor Lawrence, who they only needed to pick in the first place because they ruined their PREVIOUS savior 1st round QB via epic mismanagement (with an assist to mono). Ownership that many fans despise, a GM approaching the hot seat, and a head coach that hasn't exactly given the fans many reasons for optimism. The other, having clinched their fourth playoff berth in the past five seasons and looking to clinch their second straight division title, riding the rocket arm and dangerous legs of their once-in-a-generation franchise quarterback and their consistently excellent defense. Deep pocketed owners, an excellent front office led by last year's AP Executive of the year, a tremendous coaching staff, and a winning culture give this team an exceptionally bright present and future. I sure am glad that my team is the one described in the second paragraph, and that the team described in the first paragraph plays in our division. GO BILLS!!!

You left out the most important comp picks of all: If Leslie Frazier gets hired away to be a head coach somewhere, the Bills will receive compensatory 3rd round draft picks in 2022 and 2023 drafts. Not bad.

Touché. In all seriousness, would you prefer that I delete it and make a separate thread? I don’t want to clutter up the game day thread.

I thought about giving this it’s own thread, but I didn’t want to start another 29 page Tremaine argument. This is high praise from Saleh, though:

Nope, I remember it vividly. Its just that : 1) The Bills are playing much better now than they were then 2) I believe the Bills would be fired up for revenge against a team that bullied them earlier in the year 3) Intentionally losing the division crown and a home playoff game to the Patriots in order to avoid ANY team, let alone a Carson Wentz QB’d Wild Card team, is loser mentality, cowardly sissy foolishness 4) The most likely outcome if we go in as the 7th seed is a trip to KC in the opening round. If you think we have a better chance of beating the Chiefs at Arrowhead than the Colts at home, I think you’re nuts In conclusion: don’t be a coward. Win the division for a second straight season (only the third time we’ll have EVER done that) and let the chips fall where they may. Fear no one.

Ridiculous.

Joe Burrow not playing Sunday. Bengals likely resting other starters as well. Three seed looking increasingly likely.

I was just over at the JetsNation forums trying to find a Bills vs Jets thread, but....there doesn't seem to be one. I think the Bucs game zapped the last bit of give-a-damn out of them, and they're fully focused on the draft now. Can't say I blame them. Thinking back on all those years of meaningless season finales, where I couldn't wait to have the game over with so I could officially wipe my hands of the season and start thinking about the draft and free agency. Now? Now playoffs are an every season occurrence, and we spend all our time worrying about seeding. My, how times have changed. But not for the Jets.

I think it's more likely we get the #3 seed. Mixon and a host of other Bengals are on the COVID list, and while I still think they'll beat the Browns, it at least seems reasonable to me that they could lose in an upset. If they lose and the Bills win, Bills are #3 seed. If that happens, I believe our most likely opponent in round 1 would be the Colts, not the Patriots. Pick your poison, I guess.

I'm proud to have McDermott as the leader of the Buffalo Bills. He seems like a legitimately good man. Humble, willing to learn and adapt, and very genuine. He's not a BS artist or a yell-in-your-face 50s gym teacher cliche. He leads by example both in how he approaches the game mentally and in how he takes care of himself physically. He's a player's coach, but also a guy that demands accountability and will yell when yelling is needed. He's not a pushover or someone to be taken advantage of. He's a leader of men and tireless fighter. The list of head coaches I'd rather have over McDermott is extremely short. I'm honestly not even sure there are any names on it.

I can't help but wonder: How much of the Bills' lack of YAC is due to scheme, and how much is due to Allen's ball placement? If I remember correctly, it sure seemed like this offense used to get big YAC numbers in New England. Why does it suddenly not get them here? I know it's downright blasphemy to question Josh's throwing accuracy, but...is it possible his ball placement isn't always the best, and it's not often conducive to YAC? Or IS it a scheme thing? Diggs and McKenzie, at the very least, should be good YAC guys. It's not like we don't have any on our roster.

It's the weirdest thing: There's not a single team in the AFC playoff field that I think the Bills can't beat. On the other hand, there's not a single team in the AFC playoff field that I think couldn't beat the Bills. I could see the Bills making it to the AFC Championship Game or Super Bowl just as easily as I could see them losing in round one.

Yep. This. We saw last year in the Dolphins finale that they'll play for seeding. It matters to them. They want at least one playoff game and the chance at two, rather than accepting the fate of three straight road tilts.

The thought of actively rooting for the Patriots to win the AFC East instead of the Bills makes me ill. I get it. You're thinking that how they perform in the playoffs is all that matters. Still, there's no way I'm rooting for the freakin PATS to win the division. Besides, McDermott is 2-0 in home playoff games but 0-3 in road playoff games.

I think the weather is a part of it, but I also think a big factor is Josh's mindset. Calm Josh Allen is elite. Hyper Josh Allen is two-turnover Josh Allen. On the road, he seems to get into a mental zone where he usually stays calm and collected. Maybe it's due to the crowd noise on the road, the collective effort it takes to thrive as an offense in adverse conditions, whatever. I'm not sure. At home, he seems to get a bit too hyped up, and suddenly his throws are a little bit off and his decision making can suffer. Maybe it's the excitement of playing in front of a home crowd, maybe it's trying to live up the massive expectations that home fans have for him. I'm not sure. All I know is that it seems irrefutable at this point: Josh, by and large, plays better on the road than at home.

I see where you're coming from and I somewhat agree. The only caveat I'll mention is that they sort of DID save his running for "must-have" games. It wasn't until later in the season, about the Bucs game -- which was pretty crucial at the time -- when all else was not working on offense, that they went to the "break glass in case of emergency" QB runs and Josh started running wild. In my mind, Josh's running HAS been pulled out only during offensive slumps or must-win games this year. While the Falcons may not be a very talented opponent, the game itself was a must-win. They were down at half-time, and a loss would've meant giving the AFC East back to the Patriots. I agree with the basic notion that it would be nice if he didn't have to run against inferior opponents, but if we're talking strictly about the importance of the games themselves, the Falcons game (and the Pats game before it) were huge. Again, I'd just love it if the big guy would learn to slide. He was doing a good job of it early in the year, but seems to have at some point said "***** it, I'm barreling into defenders for an extra two yards every time". I'm not sure why. Save that extra effort for must-have downs and big moments in the game, but otherwise...SLIDE!!!!

In my opinion, the Ravens should absolutely re-sign Lamar, and they will. He consistently has around a 100.0 QB Rating, rushes for 1,000 yards every year, and when the team isn't decimated by injuries, he usually has them with 10+ wins. You can't NOT re-sign a guy like that. Baker Mayfield? Now THAT'S a head scratcher. Not sure I'd want to be in the QB purgatory that his re-signing would put the Browns in. Personally, if I was Cleveland, I'd let Mayfield play out his fifth year option and, assuming he doesn't show major improvement, look for a different answer at the QB position.

It's so weird to see Bills fans begging for the team to stop running Josh Allen when he averages 7 yards per rush, is the team's best running threat, and has scored 30 rushing TDs in four seasons. Not to mention the fact that his legs seem to be the only way out of the offensive slumps this team sometimes finds itself in. I understand that we want to keep the guy healthy, but the answer, in my mind, is for him to learn to slide. It is NOT to take away one of the best offensive weapons on our team and ask a guy with that kind of God-given running ability to just stop running. Why take away one of the most deadliest modes of attack that your offense has? Josh needs to learn to slide and slide often. Russell Wilson has done this effectively for YEARS. The answer is NOT to just stop using the potent weapon that is Josh's running ability.